.: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery :.

Well the year is coming to an end yet again, it's New Years Eve and it's time to PARTY! I'll be at Sepang International Circuit tonight participating in a new Malaysian Book of Records record, 50 years of drifting for 50 years of independence, there's also a rave..so that's why I'll be there, and a free chance to trash my car on the track of course.

You can find more details here: Transit: Sound of Smoke

Anyway, 2006 has been an interesting and rewarding year..a lot of things have come and gone and all in all I feel it's a been a much more positive year than the previous two.

January - Archives

Unsurprisingly the whole year was plagued with incidents of lousy service and quality of connection from Streamyx, this started right in January..

Read more

So sadly, the last day came, didn't do much really except walked out to try and find some baguettes they sell at the road side. Unfortunately couldn't. So we had some breakfast at a restaurant by the traffic lights on Wat Bo road (There are only 3 sets of traffic lights in Siem Reap, and one set is new!).

Walked past this place aswell, seems to be repairing many sculptures and carvings from the temples, recasting some parts aswell and recreating others. Very interesting. Might just be making them for rich peoples gardens, who knows.

And yeah there are still people living in little shanty huts on bits of mud by the side of the road.

With even more very cute kids

I love this picture, the shadow of the chopper is cool.

A coconut and some chicken noodles for breakfast it was.

I did manage to find some baguettes on the way to the airport, but the fucker wanted $3 for one or something, damn lansi man. I asked the taxi driver he said they are 500-800 riels normally (25-40 cents).

About Peace of Angkor

The place we stayed at is called Peace of Angkor, you can find their website HERE.

Peace Of Angkor Villa is a lovely place to unwind and enjoy a taste of real Cambodian hospitality

The friendliness and happy family atmosphere here at Peace Of Angkor Villa is something which our guests love. All our staff speak English well and enjoy the company of our visitors.

Set within spacious grounds; our Villa; is situated in a quiet location, well away from major roads. We are only a few minutes walk from the Siem Reap River and the commercial heart of Siem Reap.

It's very clean, has a lovely balcony, reasonably priced, nice food and is a warm and friendly place to stay.

It's about $25USD for a nice room for 2, $35USD for a room for 3. It's classed mid-range for Siem Reap, you can get rooms as cheap as $10USD up to about $400USD for those 5 star hotels.

The food is good local food, and reasonably priced, I would say the water is overpriced though. $1USD for a bottle of water, I walked down to the corner shop and got 12 bottles for $3USD and 2 large bottles of Angkor beer for $3USD. (More here). So the beer was not much cheaper, but the water was a lot cheaper (And no it wasn't the cheap type of water).

It has very nice decor and is definately a photographers haven with Daves beautiful photographs covering the interior.

The outside has nice statues and a very green garden.

The rooms are spacious with water heaters, aircon, a small fridge and TV with cable channels like CNN and BBC News.

Peace of Angkor, I recommend it If you do contact them, or stay there, please let them know you found them through me or my site. Cheers!

There is a lot of information about places to stay in Siem Reap here:

Staying in Siem Reap
Siem Reap & Angkor Hotels
Canby Hotels
Siem Reap Hotels

My Guide - Thoeun Thet

What a great guy and a really good guide, he goes by the name of Thet (prounounced like Ted but with a softer T at the end).

Thet is a very nice guy and of course extremely knowledeable about Angkor Wat, the temples and the history behind them.

He stutters a little with his English sometimes but on the whole is very good. What I liked about his was his talent for taking us around the temples on a slightly different time frame from normal, or so it seemed, as we got to most places before the crowds were there and left just as the huge coaches arrived. He seemed to be able to avoid the crowds, even with Phnom Bahkeng he managed to get us there early before the inevitable thousands arrived for the sunset.

He let us go at our own pace and was happy to discuss more on things we were interested in, he also did seem genuinely interested in what he was talking about and wasn't just a talking recital of the guidebook.

He also left us alone sometimes just to sit in the temple and enjoy the atmosphere and didn't rush us around.

I totally recommend getting a guide, if not you wouldn't know what you were looking at most of the time and you really wouldn't appreciate it as much. With a guide book you can do ok, if you have 2-3 weeks to explore slowly, but if you are pressed for time (even 5 days was pretty short) you really need a guide to get the most out of it.

And if you do get a guide, why not Thet

I really respect what he's doing aswell, he works a full day as a guide, goes home and cooks dinner for his 2 younger brothers (who he supports and pays for their education), then in the evenings he's taking classes. He's studying for a tourism degree part-time! Hes currently writing his final thesis on the effects tourism has on Cambodia. A very interesting guy indeed.

His e-mail is thoeunthet (at) yahoo (dot) com

If you do contact Thet, just let him know you got to know about him from me.

It was an amazing trip, and I really miss Cambodia now and the people. I will go back again someday in the future, hopefully to visit Phnom Phen aswell. I would heartily recommend you all go and book your tickets NOW!

You can find all the pictures from this trip in my Flickr Cambodia, Siem Reap and Angkor Wat Set.

All the posts in this series, from start to end can be found here:

Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 2 - Itinerary - Morning in Angkor Thom and Bayon
Cambodia Day 2 - An Afternoon at Angkor Wat & Sunset at Phnom Bahkeng
Cambodia Day 3 - Morning at Banteay Srei, Ta Som, Neak Pean and Preah Khan
Cambodia Day 3 - An Afternoon at Ta Keo, Ta Prohm and Old Market - Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 4 - A Morning at Lolei, Bakong and Preah Ko (Roluos Group)
Cambodia Day 4 - An Afternoon at the Cambodian Land Mine Museum
Cambodia Day 4 - An Afternoon at Tonle Sap (The Great Lake)

After the mornings harrowing visit to the Land Mine museum in Siem Reap we had lunch near the guesthouse at a local restaurant then had a rest back at the Guest house before heading out to Tonle Sap (The Land Mine post provoked quite a discussion at Tomorrow).

Of course with lunch was some Angkor beer, kind of compulsory

Then grabbed some Banana Fritters on the way back (Pisang Goreng), quite different from the Malaysian ones I have to say..They take the banana then put in a plastic bag with some powder and whack it so its flat, then they batter it (The batter has poppy seeds or something in it) and fry it, so it's crispy and fluffy and just great.

I bought a couple extra and gave them to the kids at the side of the road who did actually look like they were starving. I told them to share it too, and they did, which was nice to see.

After that we took a rest for a while, then around 2pm we headed out to Tonle Sap.

The Tonlé Sap (meaning Large Fresh Water River but more commonly translated as Great Lake) is a combined lake and river system of huge importance to Cambodia. It is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hotspot that was designated as an UNESCO biosphere in 1997.

The people living at the side of the lake are very poor, what's worse is they actually have to move their houses according to the tides of the lake and the season..Plus what's worse is the tourist trade to the lake (which incidentally is not benefiting them at all) is covering their houses in dust and eroding the road.

There are a large number of boat operators there, as you can see, catering for different languages such as Thai, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Tamil and English.

The people who actually live on the lake seem better off than those at the roadside, well of course they can afford a house, a boat and supplies. The floating village is more of a city with shops, schools, churches and restaurants.

Christians...everywhere.

They live there, eat there, cook there and work there.

Chilling

Hitching a Ride.

Then there are these little vietnamese kids rowing around in bowls...yes BOWLS..some of them are extremely pushy in begging, so I chose to take a picture of this kid, he looked like he'd just finished school and he wasn't pushy, so I took my picture and gave him a few hundred Riels.

We were there for the sunset but it was pretty cloudy, and we wouldn't see anything, so we headed back before it got dark.

The boat trip will set you back around $10USD per person.

Great Experience.

Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 2 - Itinerary - Morning in Angkor Thom and Bayon
Cambodia Day 2 - An Afternoon at Angkor Wat & Sunset at Phnom Bahkeng
Cambodia Day 3 - Morning at Banteay Srei, Ta Som, Neak Pean and Preah Khan
Cambodia Day 3 - An Afternoon at Ta Keo, Ta Prohm and Old Market - Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 4 - A Morning at Lolei, Bakong and Preah Ko (Roluos Group)
Cambodia Day 4 - An Afternoon at the Cambodian Land Mine Museum

It was something I wanted to do, to see a little of the real Cambodia, to feel a bit of the history surrounding the beautiful temples and the war that ravaged the country within my lifetime.

The Khmer Rouge, under the despotic rule of Pol Pot, was a communist organization which ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, the official name was Communist Party of Cambodia, later the Party of Democratic Kampuchea.

The Khmer Rouge regime is remembered mainly for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people (from an estimated 1972 population of 7.1 million), through execution, starvation and forced labor. It is often said to have been one of the most violent regimes of the 20th century — on par with the regimes of Adolf Hitler and, in the views of many, Joseph Stalin. In terms of the number of people killed as a proportion of the population of the country it ruled and time in power, it was probably the most lethal regime of the 20th century

Source: Wikipedia

In 1981, Pol Pot dissolved the party. Pol Pot was of course, the man behind much of this.

During his time in power Pol Pot created an aggressive regime of agricultural reform, designed to create a utopian Communist society which was known for repressing intellectuals. Today the excesses of his government are widely blamed for causing the deaths of up to two million Cambodians, although estimates vary significantly. By some accounts, nearly one out of every eight Cambodians was murdered. The regime targeted Buddhist monks, Western educated intellectuals, individuals with glasses, and ethnic Laotians and Vietnamese.

Source: Wikipedia

I find it strange how many people here in Malaysia (virtually a neigbouring country) know so little about this regime and how devastating it was, yet even as a toddler I was aware of the happenings in Cambodia, when I was on the other side of the world.

The country is peppered with landmines because of the civil war that raged..there are still on average of 2 people A DAY dying in Cambodia due to landmines, and it's 2006.

The plural is used, as there are a HELL of a lot of mines theres.

You are greeted with 'Museum' spelled out in mines.

I saw the testament of the suffering in the Land Mine museum..the story of the Land Mine museum itself is an interesting one, even moreso the guy behind it, Aki Ra.

This guy has dedicated his life to clearing mines although sadly his clearing exercise is far from complete, it is estimated that 6 million mines remain in the soil of Cambodia. These uncleared mine fields are primarily located along the Thai/Cambodian border, and it is here that Aki Ra regularly journeys to continue the work, unaided by support, external funding or the most basic of detection devices. He says it'll be around 20-30 years more until the mines are cleared to an acceptable level.

What's he's taken out of the ground, he's stock-piled here.

As a child soldier, Aki Ra lived through Cambodia's tumultuous past. Both his parents were killed by the Khmer Rouge when he was about five years old. He was then conscripted into their army where he was taught to lay mines, fire guns and rocket launchers, and make simple bombs. Today he is taking an active part in rebuilding the country he loves. In 1999, Aki Ra established the Cambodia Land Mine Museum in Siem Reap near Angkor Wat. His dedication and sincerity enable others to more fully understand Cambodian culture, and to see first hand the resolve the Cambodian people have to address the issue of land mines. His goal in life is to make his country safe and free of land mines.

His full life story is HERE, a true hero.

He's been in a LOT of trouble with the government over his museum. (Read More)

Several times a month, for up to 5 days at a time, he works without sophisticated detection or safety equipment, usually solo, clearing mines on the Thai/Cambodia border. Providing his own food during these expeditions by hunting, he uses nothing more than his own foot, a stick and his extensive knowledge to safely locate and then with his hands, detonate the landmines. Aki Ra clears up to 30 mines per day, an amazing feat when compared to the 2-3 per day of an official United Nation mine clearer.

Thankfully with funding from the Cambodian Landmine Museum Relief Fund, Aki Ra has gotten some updated information and equipment.

I watched him demining on a DVD, it was a harrowing experience, watching the sweat drip off him as he deftly takes the detonator out of a mine big enough to blow up most of our houses just using a twig and a knife.

After that using some very basic aparatus, he makes the mines safe..The aparatus consists of a fire, a metal pipe and some water, he uses steam to melt the explosives inside the mine.

It actually made me want to give up everything, and go there...and take out the fucking mines with my bare hands. There are just SO many, and countries are still stockpiling, China for example has something like 115 MILLION mines stockpiled.

What reinforces this fact, is the 12 young children that live in the Museum facility..all missing arms or legs. It's hard to look at them, to see them playing knowing full well their injuries are caused by man, man made devices planted in the ground.

There are stories, photos and paintings around the place illustrating this, they aren't for the weak-stomached.

Some of the stories you read about these very children are heartbreaking, one young boy for example was playing near his home when he found some unexploded ordinance, of course he didn't know what it was, so he picked it up..

It blew both of his hands off.

What's worse...his 2 brothers heard the explosion and ran to help him, they ran into a tripwire triggering another explosion and were both killed.

MINES HEAR NO CEASEFIRE...MINES NEVER GIVE UP.

We have to fight to ban mines, they are inhumane, yes war is war, war is inhumane, but mines stay around, the modern ones are made of plastic...so they don't even degrade. They just stay there, waiting silently to blow some poor childs leg off.

Yah..being there upset me, even just writing this and remembering being there upsets me.

And yes, it effects us closer to home.

SINGAPORE STILL PRODUCES LAND MINES.

Honestly, that disgusts me. Do they plan on planting them in Malaysia if we cut off their water? What exactly do they need landmines for?

I bought 3 t-shirts (I think they were $5USD each), I didn't haggle the price, that was sadly the best I could do.

You can find more information here:

International Campaign to Ban Landmines
The Cambodian Land Mine Museum
The Cambodian Landmine Museum Relief Fund
The Land Mine Museum
Cambodia - Aki Ra

Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 2 - Itinerary - Morning in Angkor Thom and Bayon
Cambodia Day 2 - An Afternoon at Angkor Wat & Sunset at Phnom Bahkeng
Cambodia Day 3 - Morning at Banteay Srei, Ta Som, Neak Pean and Preah Khan
Cambodia Day 3 - An Afternoon at Ta Keo, Ta Prohm and Old Market - Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 4 - A Morning at Lolei, Bakong and Preah Ko (Roluos Group)

Up again early for breakfast, breakfast being Porridge, much like the rest of Asia (Rice porridge or Congee, not Oats like the Scottish were expecting), or something like Toast or Cereal.

I had space on my camera again on this day, as the night before I burnt all my pictures to a CD at a nearby cybercafe, this service cost $2 and then $1 for an hour of (EXTREMELY SLOW) Internet access.

The Roluos group is a very old trio of temples dating back to the 9th century.

Roluos's monuments or The Roluos group lies 15 kilometers south-west of Siem Reap and includes three temples - Bakong, Prah Ko and Lolei - dating from the late 9th century and corresponding to the ancient capital of Hariharalaya, from which the name of Lolei is derived. Remains include 3 well-preserved early temples that venerated the Hindu gods. The bas-reliefs are some of the earliest surviving examples of Khmer art. Modern-day villages surround the temples.

First up we went to Lolei.

Lolei is the northernmost temple of the Roluos group at Angkor, Cambodia. It was built in the late 9th century under Yasovarman I, being dedicated in 893. It was an island temple, located slightly north of the centre of the Indratataka baray, construction of which was almost completed under the previous king, Indravarman I. The baray is now dry.

Lolei is comprised of 4 very old looking tower sanctuaries made of bricks, not the large stone blocks like the later temples.

The kids had piled up little rocks all around the temples, which was quite a site. Apparently they had no significance though.

Lolei really does look ancient and is propped up all over the place like a frail old man.

There were Sanskrit inscriptions inside the door frames which helped the historians piece together the past purpose of the temple.

After that we headed over the Bakong, the first real pyramid shaped temple in the Angkor complex.

The central temple built by Indravarman I one year after Preah Ko, is another example of sandstone mountain-temples. The five superimposed terraces symbolize Mount Meru. 'Discovered' by Henri-Marchal in 1936, the temple has been completely restored stone by stone. It's the nicest of the Roluos temples for its atmosphere, as it is lost in the jungle.

It's a very majestic temple and somewhat reminscient of Angkor Wat itself with a large moat surrounding the complex.

Bakong signifies the climb to heaven, the steps are very large which has the effect of making you kneel as you climb them, at the top was hosted a huge Linga, which unfortunately was no longer there.

There is an active school and monastery in the grounds of Bakong, which led me to see the cutest boy EVAR. Yeah I know..how can you not want to adopt one?

The temple is embellished with lions squatting at the base of each tier.

After that was the last temple of the group Preah Ko, which was pretty much a ruins!

Built in 879 by Indravarman I in honor of his ancestors. Known as the temple of the sacred ox and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva feature three sacred oxen in front of the first row of temples, all in poor condition. The front towers relate to the male ancestors or gods, the rear towers to female ancestors or goddesses. A series of lions guard the steps up to the temple platform.

This was about the only temple I saw which had carvings of male warriors, not just female forms.

Bakong is definately the best out of the three.

More details on the Roluos Group HERE.

It was quite an early morning, and the afternoon was penned for Tonle Sap, so we had a few hours to spare. I suggested we head to the landmine museum, which we did..Coming next.

On the way we stopped off at a few big tourist shops as it was Chinese New Year and our guide said if we visited the shops they would get presents, they told us not to buy anything though as it was overpriced, so we thought why not. Do them a favour, so we went round 3 huge tourist shops and didn't buy a thing, the guide and driver each got some kinda hamper things with biscuits and fizzy drinks

Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 2 - Itinerary - Morning in Angkor Thom and Bayon
Cambodia Day 2 - An Afternoon at Angkor Wat & Sunset at Phnom Bahkeng
Cambodia Day 3 - Morning at Banteay Srei, Ta Som, Neak Pean and Preah Khan
Cambodia Day 3 - An Afternoon at Ta Keo, Ta Prohm and Old Market - Siem Reap

So after having lunch back at Angkor Wat, and wondering around the stalls for a while, we headed off to the next temple, Ta Keo.

Ta Keo is an incomplete temple in the Khleang style built as the state temple of Jayavarman V. It was dedicated in 1000 but work was later abandoned, with little decoration applied.

Ta Keo is another mountain style temple dedicated to Shiva, the mountain with the golden peaks. It's quite a plain but very majestic temple, the decorations stopped quite early though so there are only a few carvings.

You'll have to bear in mind I was running out space of my Camera by now, so pictures get fewer

After that we trekked over to Ta Prohm, one of THE most famous temples in Ankgor Wat in recent years, for a quite different reason. This is where first Tomb Raider movie was filmed.

Ta Prohm is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Located approximately one kilometre east of Angkor Thom and on the southern edge of the East Baray, it was built by King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university. Unlike most of the other Angkor temples, Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition in which it was found: the photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor's most popular temples with visitors.

It is an extremely atmoshpheric place, and makes you feel like a real jungle trekker, until the horde of Japanese college scream past you to take their 'Toom Layda' pictures.

The temple is partially restored, so it's not completely wild like Beng Melea, but it is amazing, and very unique.

The temple is propped up all over the place to stop the large roots from tearing it apart.

The trees literally pour down the walls like water.

There is a mix of Silk Rope trees and Fig Trees, quite often with the Fig Trees growing over the top as they do.

The trees are massive and some are 3-400 years old..(Yeah opportunity for gay pseudo-Japanese pose, KAWAII!!)

The roots of Ta Prohm..

It's a sprawling temple, with a lot of it fallen down, you can spend quite some time exploring the dark tunnels and root filled corners.

After that it was a quick stop in Banteay Kdei, but no pictures, because no more space!

Banteay Kdei is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia. It is located southeast of Ta Prohm and east of Angkor Thom. Built in the late 12th to early 13th centuries, it is a Buddhist temple in the Bayon style, similar in plan to Ta Prohm and Preah Khan.

Ah just one, buddha.

After that, we decided to head to the Old Market to check out the goodies, I wanted to get a couple of nice Oil Paintings as I'd seen some beautiful ones around.

I'd already picked up an Apsara and a Buddha at one of the less touristy temples where the wasn't many customers (at a very good price). Will talk more about souveneirs later.

Extremely dusty as they are resurfacing the roads, and it's dusty at the best of times.

There's a wide variety of stuff, at reasonable prices. You don't have to push these people around so please don't haggle like you are in Thailand. They are soft, humble people, so bargain gently, and don't try and rob them for every last cent...they are VERY poor people. In the Market they are slightly better off, but those you see selling things in the temple complex have had most of their rights taken away, they can't farm and are subsistence living, so don't barter over $0.50 with someone that makes $2 profit a day, just give it to them ok?

After that it was off to the main street, near the Old Market for some $0.75 beers!

Then off back near the Guesthouse to a very nice Thai restaurant called Sawadee (Around Wat Bo Road area).

Then a good nights sleep, ready for the next day of adventures!

Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 2 - Itinerary - Morning in Angkor Thom and Bayon
Cambodia Day 2 - An Afternoon at Angkor Wat & Sunset at Phnom Bahkeng
Cambodia Day 3 - Morning at Banteay Srei, Ta Som, Neak Pean and Preah Khan

You will usually leave a little early if you chose to go to Banteay Srei and you will pay a $10 surcharge for the day for petrol as it's quite a lot further than the other temples, it will take around 45 minutes to drive there (and petrol is expensive in Cambodia).

It is reputed to be one of the most beautiful temples though, I have to agree really the carving is truly breathtaking, it's so intricate and so perfect after hundreds of years. It's commonly known as the pink temple, as it's built from a different kind of stone with a pinkish hue.

Banteay Srei (The women's citadel) is one of the most unusual temples of Angkor, Cambodia. It lies 25 km northeast of the main group. It is built largely of red sandstone, which is covered with elaborate and deeply carved decoration. The buildings themselves are miniature in scale. These factors have made the temple extremely popular with tourists, and have led to its being widely praised as a "precious gem", or the "jewel of Khmer art".

Consecrated in 967, Banteay Srei was the only major temple at Angkor not built for the king; instead it was constructed by one of king Rajendravarman's counsellors, Yajnyavahara. The temple was primarily dedicated to Shiva (the southern buildings and the central tower were devoted to him, but the northern ones to Vishnu). It lies near the hill of Phnom Dei 25 km (15 miles) northeast of the main group of temples, where the capital of the time (Yashodharapura) was located

More info: Banteay Srei

As you can see the artwork is really stunning.

It's truly so detailed.

There was even a big group of monks there as tourists, I think from Thailand.

Breathtaking.

The Hindu Monkey God Brothers (Bali and Sugreev - Hanuman firing the Bow).

After that we headed to Ta Som, a fairly small temple dedicated to the father of King Jayavarman VII.

Ta Som was a nice change, with very few people there.

The Apsara were a lot different here, and the carvings much deeper.

Must...do...typical...cheesy....tourist....photo...

The main attraction of Ta Som is this huge ass tree, growing over the doorway.

This little girl was ultra-persistent...it is one thing I will warn you about, it is heartbreaking to see these beautiful little kids covered in mud selling postcards and trinkets for a dollar, it is recommended however DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO CHILDREN, a lot of the kids are stolen or bought from Vietnam and the rest should be at school, not begging. This little girl went through 3 languages trying to sell us a pack of postcards..

They are SO cute though. A pack of postcards will set you back $1USD. Buy from the adults please.

After that we headed to Neak Pean, a very unique and memorable monument.

Neak Pean at Angkor, Cambodia is an artificial island with a Buddhist temple at the center of Jayatataka Baray, or Pool of Jayavarman.

There are 4 pools and at each side there is a head, representing the 4 animals of Hindu or something like that..the elephant, the cow, the bull and the horse. This one was the Human, emulating the hot springs in India. During the rainy season, the pools are still full.

After that was the last stop before lunch Preah Khan.

As you can see here a lot of the statues are desecrated with many of the Hindu deities and Buddhist statues missing their faces or heads.

Preah Khan is a large temple,t he temple's foundation stela has provided considerable information about the history and administration of the site: the main image, of the boddhisatva Avalokitesvara in the form of the king's father, was dedicated in 1191 (the king's mother had earlier been commemorated in the same way at Ta Prohm).

The temple is still a destination for Buddhist pilgrims.

The pillar represents the 108 steps to acheive enlightment.

It was quite run down, but very atmospheric.

After that we headed back to Angkor Wat for lunch in that area, and had a wonder around the stalls there.

Beer Lao - best choice for beer in Cambodia

Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 2 - Itinerary - Morning in Angkor Thom and Bayon
Cambodia Day 2 - An Afternoon at Angkor Wat & Sunset at Phnom Bahkeng

The recommended place after lunch is Angkor wat, the premier time for coming out of Angkor Wat is about 2-3pm, when the light for pictures will be PERFECT and you'll get the picture postcard of Angkor reflected in the lake in front of the temple.

Angkor Wat of course is THE most famous temple in the Angkor Complex, and probably, THE most famous temple in the world. You can easily spend 2-3 hours just wondering around, studying the Bas Reliefs and just sitting atop the temple, peacefully staring over the kilometeres of untouched jungle.

Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built for king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre—first Hindu, then Buddhist—since its foundation.

It is breathtaking, honestly you can even imagine how tremendous it is, until you stand in front of it, in awe.

• You can see it on TV
• You can read about it in books
• You can see endless pictures

But REALLY it's not the same as standing in front of it. I mean the freaking moat is 180m wide, YEAH THATS RIGHT BITCH 180 FRIGGIN METRES. Makes our European moats look like trickles of piss in the sand.

It is of course a world heritage site.

There's still plenty of reminants of the Khmer regime with bullet holes all over the place, and some damage from heavy ordinance too, pretty sad to see how people can disrespect the ancient culture like that.

There are, of course, beautiful Apsara everywhere again.

There's nothing like walking up the paved way to Angkor Wat.

The Bas Relief are very long and VERY detailed telling epic stories on each of the 4 sides of the main complex.

Bas-relief is a method of sculpting which entails carving or etching away the surface of a flat piece of stone or metal. The word is derived from the Italian basso rilievo, the literal translation meaning raised contrast. To explain simply it is a sculpture portrayed as a picture. The portrayed image is raised above the background flat surface.

With fascinating Hindu legends such as the demons and the gods uniting bound together by the snake Naga to churn the Sea of Milk for the elixir of immortality.

On the eastern gallery is one of the most celebrated scenes, the Churning of the Sea of Milk, showing 92 asuras and 88 devas using the serpent Vasuki to churn the sea under Vishnu's direction (Mannikka counts only 91 asuras, and explains the asymmetrical numbers as representing the number of days from the winter solstice to the spring equinox, and from the equinox to the summer solstice).[32] It is followed by Vishnu defeating asuras (a 16th-century addition).

It's a pretty steep climb up to the top, but it's worth it, 100%.

I sat here for quite some time, just taking in the peace of ancient feeling of the place, and admiring the view of the untouched jungles.

My Mom of course, totally LOVED it.

This is the famous Angkor Wat postcard picture, this is one of my favourite pictures of the trip.

And yeah, just to prove I was there and I didn't steal the pictures

It's pretty tiring, and a lot of walking and huge steps involved.

After Angkor Wat, we headed up to Phnom Bahkeng for the sunset over the grand lake Tonle Sap, it's the most famous place for the Sunset in the Angkor complex.

The rulers of Angkor constructed many temple mountains, but Phnom Bakeng is all natural stone. The temple on the summit was built in the late 9th or early 10th century by Jacawarman I (or Yasovarman I). At the top of the hillock are 5 successive rows of 12 sanctuaries each. Here the Royal Linga - phallic symbol of the King in his divine state - was placed.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat is supposed to be spectacular aswell.

It's quite a steep path up to Phnom Bahkeng, so be prepared.

You can see Angkor Wat from the top too, the steps are huge though, so it's more of a crawl to get to the top of the temple.

Unfortunately it's become 'the' stopping place for the sunset especially on huge group package tours *sigh*, luckily our guide is smart, and took us there very early, around 4pm, before anyone was there, sunset was at 5.45pm.

So we had a good hour of peace before the unwashed masses started arriving.

As you can see by the crowds, not a good place to be, so I left before the sunset.

I did manage to get a fantastic picture anyway, which is my new wallpaper.

Make sure you have loads of insect repellant on if you stick around for the sunset, mozzie heaven! Oh yah, you're supposed to take Malaria tablets before you go too, so check with your local doctor for what's best for you.

After that was back to the Guesthouse for a nice shower, write down the days adventures, check out the pictures and a similar dinner as last night (With beer of course!)

Tommorow, guess what? MORE TEMPLES!

Previously:

Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap
Cambodia Day 2 - Itinerary - Morning in Angkor Thom and Bayon

There is a common 3 day tour that I opted for after reading all the available info and chatting with some people in Cambodia. We mixed it and matched it with a few options, and I ended up with something REALLY good, if you ask me

Also try and pick up the FREE Canby guide as soon as you get there, it's updated every quarter. The latest edition I picked up was October 2005 - January 2006.

It looks like this:

Our 3-day tour was something like this:

• Day 1 : Morning - South Gate of Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphuon and Phimeanakas, Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King. Lunch in front of Angkor Wat. After lunch Angkor Wat and Sunset at Phnom Bahkeng. Dinner at Guesthouse
• Day 2 :Morning - Long trip to Banteay Srei, Ta Som, Neak Pean, Preah Khan. Lunch in front of Angkor Wat. After lunch Ta Keo, Ta Prohm (The Tomb-Raider Tree-of-life), Bantey Kdei. Dinner at great Thai Restaurant
• Day 3 : Morning - The Roluos Group (Lolei, Bakong and Preah Ko) - Lunch back at the hotel and rest for a while. Afternoon tour of Tonle Sap and the floating village with Sunset there. Headed to the old market for dinner.

You'll be sleeping early, as you need to leave about 7.30am, and don't be a fat sack of unfit lard, as you'll be walking around pretty much from 7.30am till sunset (around 5.45pm).

We headed out first thing on the first day, super excited, we were going to Angkor Wat, little did we know the variety of amazing things we were about to see. Be prepared for a visual feast. The pictures from before lunch aren't that spectacular, as it's pre-noon sun, but you'll get the idea just fine

You'll go through the main gate to the complex first, where you need to buy your pass for 1, 3 of 5 days depending on how long you are there. I opted for the 3 day pass which costs $40USD. The only annoying thing is you have to use it on concurrent days, you can't spread it out a bit. Also note the pass is NON-transferable.

You need to show it every time before you go into any of the temples.

We got to the south-gate of Angkor Thom nice and early, Angkor Thom is in the Bayon style.

Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by king Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his sucessors. At the centre of the city is Jayavarman's state temple, the Bayon, with the other major sites clustered around the Victory Square immediately to the north.

You can take an elephant ride from the South Gate to Bayon for $10USD.

It was a little foggy in the morning, but beautiful anyway, the road to the gate was lined demons on one side, buddhas on the other.

This is the famous South Gate of Angkor Thom.

It's fantastic inside Bayon, with the intricate carvings of the Apsara (Celestial Dancers) everywhere.

Apsaras are the wives of the Gandharvas, court servants of Indra. They danced to the music made by their husbands, usually in the various gods' palaces. One of their duties is to guide to paradise the heroes who fall in battle, whose wives they then become. They are distinguished as daivika ("divine") or laukika ("worldly").

To say the carvings on the walls are 800 years old...they are amazingly clear.

The whole place is rather strange in that it's a mix of buddhist relics, hindu relics, hindu relics converted to buddhist and vice versa. Sometimes it's quite confusing.

The famous Bayon style face.

This is Phimeanakas, where the legend states a serpent dwelled, a serpent that changed into a woman, the kings of Angkor had to make love to the serpent every night or the kingdom would be felled with a great disaster.

Terrace of the Elephants

The Terrace of the Leper King

Then an amazing lunch in front of Angkor Wat, I'd heard bad things about the food there, but it was DELICIOUS, reasonably priced and clean.

We had the famous Amok again, this time served in a young coconut.

Some fantastic Pork and Ginger.

And of course...Angkor Beer!!one11

Beer is about $2.50USD for this large bottle, in the old market you can get it for about $2 or during happy hour (seems to be all night long) you can get draft for $0.75 a glass.

Next up, an afternoon in Angkor Wat!

Previously - Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap

So I decided before my Mom came, to take her on a little trip, seen as though she's flown half way around the world to get here, I was looking at the Malaysia islands like Langkawi...then I saw Air Asia was flying to a bunch of new places, one being Siem Reap..although I had no idea where it was, I looked up all the new places, most were in Indonesia.

But Siem Reap it turned out was in Cambodia, and only 5.5km from Angkor Wat! I was so excited, and I knew my Mom would LOVE it there. So I booked the tickets, it was only $9.99 each way for the tickets as it was a new destination. You can check the prices now on Air Asia. I think you'll find it's about $240 for the ticket to and fro now (Around $80 there, $160 back).

So before going I did some research on the net, the best places I found were Wikipedia for Siem Reap/Angkor Wat and the Tales of Asia site. Tales of Asia has MORE than enough info on health, currency, immigration issues, travel, what to see, where to eat, where to go and so on.

His amazing Cambodia FAQ was extremely useful.

Take a note that the currency there is mainly USD, the local currency (The Riel) is only used for small change and small transactions.

The official currency is the riel, however the de facto currency is the US dollar and most prices are quoted in dollars. Even the government quotes fees in US dollars. As there are no coins in Cambodia, riels function as small change and you'll accumulate some during your trip. There is no reason to change significant quantities of cash into riel, but it's a good idea to carry a few thousand riels in your pocket for moto drivers (they NEVER have change) and other small purchases

So off I went to KLIA with a pocket full of USD, a few ideas of where to stay and a bunch of print outs from the net.

The Air Asia flight was timely for once, and we arrived in Cambodia after 2 hours and 5 minutes as expected. Bear in mind if you are not from South East Asia you will have to pay for a Visa when you arrive in Cambodia, you require a recent passport photograph and $20USD.

It's the first visa entry card I've seen with a picture and in COLOUR!

I hadn't slept the night before...and I looked like it too LOL, I went back to the hotel and crashed out.

You can get from the airport into town for $5USD for a taxi or $1USD for a Tuk-tuk.

I woke up just about in time for dinner, best! Most dishes are about 3-4USD some slightly more, obviously expect to pay more in the guesthouse than outside, unless you go to a posh or a tourist restaurant. This is for Khmer food, it's fairly much like Thai food but not spicy.

We had 3 dishes for dinner, some kind of vegetable..

Sweet and sour pork..

And the local speciality, a very light coconut curry called Amok..

We organised our plan that night too, from what I'd read I decided to get a guide and a car, a guide will set you back around $25USD a day however you travel and a car around $20USD a day. If it's a bigger group, you can hire a minibus, but I'm not sure on the cost for that.

You can opt for a cheaper Tuk-tuk for around $12USD a day, but bear in mind a Tuk-tuk can only really accomadate two people and the cars there are 90% old Toyota Camrys so they can take three easily (Remember there is a guide and a driver, so there are already 2 in the car).

Also calculate in the cost of the Temple Pass ($40USD for 3 days per person).

Plus the cost of food (for 2-3 people it about $15USD a meal), so yeah it's not a really cheap trip.

Siem Reap is not a huge place, so wherever you stay it'll probably be within walking distance to the old market and the middle of town with the bars/restaurants, from our place it was about 15 minutes walk, pretty much any distance is $1USD on a Tuk-tuk.

Tommorow the temples!